Veteran HIVer activist Cornelius Baker,
who shepherded Whitman-Walker Clinic, D.C.’s top AIDS service
organization, through five cash-strapped, Bush-bashed years, resigned
December 15 as executive director.

On January 6, days after his eldest son died, Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, where AIDS remains taboo, made global news by publicizing HIV as the cause of death.

In Memoriam
Legendary author and activist Susan Sontag,
71, died December 28 of leukemia related to treatment for cancer, which
she battled for three decades. Her rich literary legacy includes
pioneering works that helped launch patient empowerment and debunk AIDS
stigma.

Conservative Boston talk-radio host David Brudnoy, 64, who came out as a gay HIVer on air in 1994, died December 9 of skin cancer.

Prison activist HIVer Judy Ricci, 44, died from a November 30 asthma attack, six months after her release.